Federation University HRM Report: Analyzing Amazon's HRM Challenges

This report delves into the human resource management challenges faced by Amazon, a leading conglomerate. It examines issues such as employee dissatisfaction, work-life imbalance, and performance management, specifically within the context of the Melbourne Fulfillment Centre. The report identifies key problems like the 'Amazon Pace,' strict control procedures, and casual recruitment practices, which contribute to job insecurity and stress. It also highlights concerns about safety and underpayment. Through a detailed organizational overview and problem analysis, the report proposes recommendations for improving the work environment, enhancing employee satisfaction, and fostering a more sustainable human resource management strategy. The report follows the structure outlined in the assignment brief, including an introduction, organizational overview, research problem, analysis of potential causes, recommendations, an action plan, and a conclusion, supported by relevant references.

Running head: HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Human Resource Management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Introduction:...............................................................................................................................3
Organizational Overview:..........................................................................................................4
Research Problem:.....................................................................................................................6
Analysis of the Potential Causes of the problem:......................................................................9
Recommendations:...................................................................................................................13
Action Plan:..............................................................................................................................14
Conclusion:..............................................................................................................................16
References:...............................................................................................................................18

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Introduction:
The implication of managing the business actions in a professional manner, is
observed to be notably high amongst the modern business entities and that is evident with the
increasing restructuring that the mainstream business entities are facing. The role of the staffs
or the other executives in the effective management of the business actions of the companies
is crucial. According to the comments of Costanigro, Deselnicu and McFadden (2016), the
ability of the companies in differentiating their products and services is considered to be
important in enhancing the sales of the companies. Considering the dynamics of the modern
business world, it is evident that the clients are largely inclined towards the purchase of the
products that are unique in nature. In addition to this, Gu (2016), claimed that the intense
business competition in mainstream business industries, is one of the crucial factor that
influences the companies towards the initiation of the business activities with a precise
objective of retaining the clients.
Along with that, Bustamante and Donangelo (2017), claimed that the mainstream
business organizations are facing the necessity to retain their clients through the efficient
enhancement of the quality of the products and enhancement in the excellence in the services
of the companies. Other than this, the utilization of the competitive pricing tactics,
incorporation of the technology and innovation in enhancing the quality of manufacturing
activities for the creation of the bestseller products, the utilization of the extensive marketing
and promotional strategies along with the scientific supervision of the human resources inside
the business organizations, are observed to be largely used by the mainstream business
entities for achieving a substantial growth. Having said that, all the above mentioned
strategies are seen to require active participation of the staffs and the executives which
certainly highlights the prominence of the human resource in the management of their

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business. However, Becker and Smidt (2016), claimed that there are considerable number of
mainstream commercial business entities which are affected by inappropriate management of
their business. The study is based on the analysis of one of such business entity named as
Amazon.
The business group is recognized as one of the largest companies operating in the
conglomerate industry. The study analyses a specific business challenge of the business
group which is the inaccurate management of the human resources. In addition to this, the
study delivers an important analysis on the business actions of the selected business group.
The study identifies the outcomes that lead to the challenge and also analyses the impact of
the challenge on the business actions the business group. With an in depth understanding of
the business challenge and the possible impact of the same on the business operations of the
business group, the study provides a list of recommendations that has the ability effectively
manage the detrimental impact of challenge on the business actions of the business group.
Organizational Overview:
The selected organization is Amazon, a business group that was established in the
form of Cadabra Inc. in the year 1994 (Amazon.com, 2020). As mentioned earlier, the
business entity operates in the conglomerate industry and that is evident with the strong
participation of the business group in various business industries such as the consumer
electronics, cloud computing, grocery stores, E- commerce, digital distribution and artificial
intelligence (Amazon.com, 2020). The business group was established by Jeff Bezos, an
American media proprietor, entrepreneur and an investor. The headquarter of the business
group is seen to be placed at Seattle, Washington (Amazon.com, 2020). The business group is
observed to be successful in working across the globe and that certainly increases the number
of clients and sales of the business group in an effective manner.

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The products that the selected organization is seen to serve to their clients, are
Amazon Kindle, Amazon Echo, Amazon Fire OS, Amazon Fire and Amazon Fire TV
(Amazon.com, 2020). Other than this, the organization is observed to be efficient in
delivering the services such as the Amazon Web Services, Amazon.com, Amazon Alexa,
Amazon Appstore, Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Music and Amazon Prime (Amazon.com,
2020). The success of the business group in managing a sustainable business in the modern
world of technology is pretty prominent with such significant expansion of the business
actions of the business group. Other than this, the managerial team of the business group is
seen to include Jeff Bezos, the president, chief executive officer and the chairman of the
business group, Brian T. Olsavsky, the Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer,
Jeffrey M. Blackburn, the Senior Vice President of Business Development, Andrew R. Jassy,
the Chief Executive Officer of Amazon Web Services, Shelley L. Reynolds, the Vice
President, Worldwide Controller, Jeffrey A. Wilke, the CEO Worldwide Consumer and
David A. Zapolsky, the Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary
(Ir.aboutamazon.com, 2020).
The success of the managerial team in providing visionary leadership is seen to be a
crucial factor in strengthening the financial strength of the business group and that is visible
with the generation of an increased revenue of 232.887 billion US dollars in the year 2018
(Ir.aboutamazon.com, 2020). In addition to this, the business group raised their operating
income to 12.421 billion US dollars and their net income to 10.073 billion US dollars in 2018
(Ir.aboutamazon.com, 2020). Apart from the visionary leadership from the part of the
managerial team of the business group, the service excellence of 750000 numbers of the
staffs of the business group is crucial in enhancing the quality of business and the services
that the business group offer to their clients (Ir.aboutamazon.com, 2020). According to the
comments of Kesting and Günzel-Jensen (2015), the achievement of the business group in

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increasing their sales and revenue is largely reliant on their ability in diversifying their
revenue streams along with the products and services that the business group offers to their
clients.
Research Problem:
Though the business group is able to achieve considerable amount of success in
generating higher revenue, the business group is seen to be affected with the inappropriate
management of their human resources and that is affecting the sustainability of their business
operations. One of the major challenge for the human resource managers of Amazon is their
incapability in gathering the trust of their staffs. With a precise look at one of the newsletters
of ABC News, it is evident that the staffs of the Melbourne Fulfilment centre of Amazon, are
largely frustrated with the culture of the business group (Abc.net.au, 2020). The staffs are
observed to possess a high degree of fear factor which certainly affects their success in
managing their operational activities. The workers of the Melbourne Fulfilment Centre is
observed to face the detrimental impact of the fear culture amongst their staffs and that is
prominent with the increased number of restrictions imposed on the staffs (Abc.net.au, 2020).
The performance of the staffs of the organization is seen to be timed to seconds which
increases the pressure of work on the staffs. The performance management system of the
business group is understood to be well-organized in extracting high performances from the
staffs of the business group, however, the control procedures of the business group is
responsible for increasing the intensity of the operations of the staffs. The application of the
excessively strict control processes is considered to be influential factor in increasing the job
stress of the staffs of business group. In addition to this, the excessive speed in the business
operations of the business group which is recognized as the “Amazon Pace” is considered to

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be tough to manage for a large number of professionals operating in the warehouse
(Abc.net.au, 2020).
In addition to this, Cunningham-Parmeter (2016), claimed that the higher authority of
the Amazon at Australia is observed to play a crucial role in setting up high pressure targets
and that is one of the primary concerns for the staffs operating in the business group. The
excessive amount of operational activities that the staffs are forced to execute for effectively
achieving the framed high pressure targets, are recognized as substantial in increasing the
work life imbalance of the staffs of the business group. As a result of the intense work
pressure, the staffs of the organization are observed to be largely dissatisfied and at the same
time, the job stress and dissatisfaction of the staffs is seen to affect the performances of the
staffs in a negative manner. Along with that, the newsletter of the ABC News is seen to be
significant in stating the inhuman condition of the staffs operating in the workforces of
Amazon.
With a precise look at the newsletter, it is understandable that the business group
follows a practice of casual recruitment for their staffs in the Melbourne workforce. Due to
the casual recruitment of the staffs, majority of the staffs who retorted to the evaluation of
ABC News, were seen to report their fear associated with their tenure inside the organization.
The staffs of the organization were observed to be confused regarding their continuity inside
the organization and that was a major point of concern for the staffs in working
wholeheartedly (Wang, Lu & Siu 2015). The job insecurity of the staffs in the Melbourne
Workforce, was a major spot of bother for the business group in ensuring their success in
increasing the quality of their performances and that was visible with the comments of the
supervisors. ABC News was able to conduct multiple interviews of the staffs and the
individuals placed at the supervisory positions at the workforce. With a precise look at the
findings of the interviews, it was evident that majority of the staffs operating in the Amazon

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Australia workforce, commented that the business group provides inappropriate condition for
their staffs to work on (Abc.net.au, 2020).
Apart from this, some of the workers working in the Melbourne warehouse of the
business group were observed to highlight the concern of safety which, in the modern world
of business, is a major point of concern. The compliance of the Amazon workers with the
“Amazon Pace” requires a certain level of safety arrangements for the staffs operating in the
organization. However, the organization is observed to be incompetent in following the set
structures of the safety arrangements which increases the possibility of service errors in the
business and operational activities of the staffs. In addition to this, Amazon faced
considerable amount of criticism for underpaying their staffs and that certainly decreases the
attractiveness of the business group as an efficient employer. The incapability of the business
group in providing industry standard wage was highlighted by several news agencies.
Business Insider, itself created multiple newsletters which highlighted the incident of
Amazon not paying the workers as per the industry standards (Businessinsider.in, 2020).
In addition to this, the application of the power politics from the part of the managers
of the business group is laying a significant role in creating job dissatisfaction amongst the
staffs of the business group. Ekdale et al. (2015), mentioned that the corporate culture of the
organization in different work centres is considered to be incompetent in motivating the staffs
for the desired improvement of their performances in the aspect of the production and quality.
Other than this, the incompetency of the business group in providing appropriate financial
supports to the staffs and the executives operating in different warehouses, for recognizing
the good work of the staffs, is regarded as an influential factor that promotes the increment of
the employee turnover the in the business group. In addition to this, the urge of the business
group in increasing the diversification of the products and services, is seen to face
considerable amount of challenge owing to the traditional training procedures of the business

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group. The ability of the staffs operating in the Amazon workforces, in contributing to the
development of the diversified products of services that the business group can offer to their
clients, is seen to be reliant on the ability of the business group in delivering the opportunity
to the staffs in developing their skills through participating in the training procedures.
As the staffs of the business group are required to work on “Amazon Pace”, the
business group faced a certain share of criticism for not being able to provide the scope to
their staffs in the enhancement of their skills. In addition to this, the robotic process of
business management implemented by the higher authority of the business group is
considered to be the chief point of concern for the staffs of the organization in providing any
sort of ideas or insights that have the ability to enhance the performances of the business
group. Though the business group expanded their workforce in a continuous manner which is
evident with the employment of 750000 numbers of staffs in the organization, the business
report of the business group of 2018, clearly highlights the concern of the higher authority of
the business group regarding the increasing employee turnover (Ir.aboutamazon.com, 2020).
As it is evident that the business group is facing the detrimental impact of the increasing rate
of the employee turnover, it becomes important to evaluate the root causes of the
inappropriate management of the human resources in the selected organization.
Analysis of the Potential Causes of the problem:
With a precise look at the business, it is visible that the business group is largely
affected with inaccurate human resource related activities and that have resulted in the
formulation of a dissatisfied workforce. One of the major challenge for the human resource
managers of the business group is seen to be the job stress (Abbas & Raja, 2015). The higher
authority of the business group is observed to put strong emphasis on ensuring the
compliance of the staffs with the “Amazon Pace”. Majority of the staffs working in various

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warehouses of Australia are observed to develop significant amount of job stress due to the
necessity that they face for complying with the “Amazon Pace”. As a result, the quality of the
performances of the staffs operating in Amazon, is observed to be largely affected.
According to the comments of Abbas and Raja (2015), the incapability of the staffs in
managing the excessive pressure of work is observed to be dependent on various factors such
as the lack of skills of the staffs, the allocation of the tasks without any sort of consideration
to the expertise of the staffs along with the lack of motivation. As per the esteemed opinion of
Imran and Tanveer (2015), the ability of the companies in refining the skills and capabilities
of the staffs is seen to be one of the crucial success factor for the companies in placing the
staffs in perfect position for complying with the excessive work pressure. At the same time,
Kessler, Heron and Dopson (2015), presented a unique view with the claim that the staffs
have high degree of success when it comes to manage the pressure of work, if the allocation
of their tasks, is conducted on the basis of their expertise. In addition to this, Imran and
Tanveer (2015), claimed that the staffs have the ability to deliver the required quality with the
consumption of least amount of possible time, if their expertise is considered as the top most
priority for the formulation of their operational activities. Along with that, the ability of the
companies in motivating the staffs of the companies is considered to be important for the
improvement of their performance. Hence, the enhancement of the ability of the staffs in
coping up with the excessive pressure of work, can be achieved with the formulation of the
operational activities of the staffs as per the expertise of the staffs, by ensuring the
formulation of a motivated workforce and through the improvement of the skills of the staffs.
Other than this, the Amazon workforce is seen to be affected with excessive pressure
work. Kessler, Heron and Dopson (2015), claimed that majority of the multinational
companies are subjected to immense pressure of work and that can be managed with the
professional distribution of tasks. Other than this, ABC News highlighted a significant

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concern for the operations department of the business group with the claim that the
organization is bound to face a great share of discomfort in the management of the
operational activities from the part of their staffs. The newsletter of ABC News reported that
the staffs working in the Australian warehouses of the business group, are largely affected
with job insecurity. van Prooijen and de Vries (2016), mentioned that the job insecurity
amongst the staffs has the potential to limit the performances of the staffs. van Prooijen and
de Vries (2016), further claimed that the sense of insecurity amongst the staffs regarding their
job, acts as a critical block for the staffs in enhancing the quality of their work through the
desired improvement of their performances. At the same time, Gallie et al. (2017), mentioned
that the apathy of the staffs in improving their skills and capabilities prohibits them from the
desired improvement of their production and that creates a concern for the companies in
ensuring that the sustainability of their business activities is maintained. Gallie et al. (2017),
stated that the job insecurity amongst the staffs has the ability to demotivate the staffs in
managing their operational actions in a professional manner.
According to the esteemed opinion of Lam et al. (2015), the success of the companies
in ensuring that the staffs do not possess any sort of sense of insecurity, is reliant on the
selection and recruitment procedures along with the type of employment contracts that the
companies formulate. Spurk et al. (2016), mentioned that the casual work contracts are
considered to be associated with a great share of vulnerability as it becomes unable to ensure
any sort of continuity of the service of the staffs in a particular organization. On the other
hand, Lam et al. (2015), stated that the service of the staffs who are on permanent labour
contracts, are seen to have higher motivation and assurance regarding their job. The
assurance regarding the continuity of the services of the staffs in a particular organization
with the formulation of the permanent contracts, is considered to be of great significance in

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influencing the staffs in participating in the skill development activities which place them in a
comfortable position for the desired enhancement of the quality of their services.
Apart from this, one of the crucial concern for the business group is seen to be the
inappropriate formulation of the wage characteristics. Many of the multinational business
magazines and news agencies such Business Insider, are able to highlight multiple cases of
underpayments conducted by the selected business group to their staffs (Businessinsider.in,
2020). The practice of the organization in paying inappropriate wages to their staffs is
considered to be demotivating for the staffs and has the potential of increasing the frustration
of the staffs. As per the comments of Eccles and Serafeim (2017), the cases of
underpayments create considerable amount of reputational damage for the companies in
being an efficient employer. At the same time, the organizations with the dark history of
compensating their staffs with inaccurate financial benefits and at inappropriate timing, are
observed to be placed at disadvantageous position in attracting talented staffs which has the
capability of decreasing the sustainability of their business operations. Along with that,
Hassairi (2016), claimed that the companies face considerable amount of challenges in
retaining their staffs with the formation of an inappropriate wage characteristics. Hassairi
(2016), further mentioned that the incapability of the companies in retaining their staffs in a
professional manner, has the ability to decrease their capability in providing the desired
quality. As a result, the sustainability of the business actions of the companies are seen to be
at threat.
For the improvement of the companies’ ability from such position, Aaronson et al.
(2018), argued that the business entities are required to formulate the wage characteristics
with a precise consideration towards the industry guidelines and standards. Aaronson et al.
(2018), further mentioned that the companies that are able to cover the basic needs of their
staffs through the formulation of their wage characteristics, are considered to have better